There’s not a happy ending for Boxer—in fact, it’s depressing for Jedrzej and his wife Kasia, who have been torn apart by their circumstances and dark opportunities. To give insight into the final act, I’ve broken down the key moments and provided meaning to the ending.
The Downfall of Jedrzej
Jedrzej’s intention was to find a better life. That came with the ambition to be the World Champion in Boxing. He did not want to be just the Polish Champion. His wife, Kasia, joins him in London, and they embark on a significant risk as Polish immigrants leaving communist rule under the subject of the USSR in the 80s.
In reality, becoming a World Champion and training in London became complicated for Jedrzej, and he ended up living in an Immigration Center with his wife and child, Tadzik.
With his wife Kasia becoming impatient with their lifestyle and hinting to Jedrzej that he should retire from the sport, Jedrzej decides to take a rigged fight. Of course, he’s a fighting man and decides not to lose on purpose, leading him to a new but ominous-looking businessman and agent, Nicky.
Under Nicky’s guidance, Jedrzej went from poverty-ridden to a wealthy, lavish lifestyle. However, his pride and lust for the lifestyle take over, and he becomes desperate for a World Champion fight with Roy Barber.
The spotlight on Jedrzej strengthens; his wife Kasia sees right through Nicky’s fraudulent, unethical, and controlling behavior and how Jedrzej is distracted by the attracted sports journalist Eva.
This is where the ending of Boxer takes shape. Jedrzej misses his son’s birthday party because he’s enjoying a party with affluent figures with Eva, who he is now having an affair with after he and his wife Kasia had a tense argument.
Despite this, Kasia is more than reasonable, despite suspecting infidelity and Jedrzej flaking on his own son’s birthday. She tries to make amends to their marriage, but by this point in the movie, it’s evident that her husband has lost his way.
Kasia moves out of the lavish estate and back to Poland, so Jedrzej moves Eva, his mistress, into the home. He wastes a year hanging with seemingly popular people and enjoys sex, drugs, and alcohol, but his training has faltered.
Ultimately, Jedrzej’s downfall was created by him. He forgot what made him ambitious in the first place and the people that supported him.
Nicky’s Blackmail
As we enter the end of the final act of Boxer, Jedrzej realizes that he’s lost his way in boxing and his dream of becoming a world champion is dying. However, agent and businessman Nicky is not interested in his personal problems. He tells Jedrzej that he’s neither his father nor his friend.
Nicky explains that he invested in Jedrzej. He pays all his bills, including rent and training. All aspects of Jedrzej’s life are financed and owed back. It dawns on Jedrzej that his contract with Nicky means he has been financially controlled. His wife, Kasia, was right. He’s lost two close people in his life due to the lifestyle Nicky gave him.
Jedrzej owes Nicky millions unless he fights and wins a championship. If he does, he’ll be in the clear.
Death and Divorce
Jedrzej’s life gets worse as the movie reaches the end. He finds his uncle, Czesiek, who has hung himself, and he’s absolutely devastated. He did not manage to make amends with his uncle before he committed suicide.
Kasia attends Czesiek’s funeral to support him, but frustratingly, Eva rudely intervenes despite Jedrzej’s excitement to see her again.
Later on, Jedrzej makes dinner for his wife Kasia in hopes they can reconnect, but he’s met with divorce papers. He’s absolutely furious but upset. This is a pivotal moment in the movie where Jedrzej realizes he has lost everyone in his life, even his son. He reminds Kasia of their past in Poland, but she kindly reminds him they only followed his dreams.
Kasia (Adrianna Chlebicka) in ‘Boxer’ (Credit – Netflix)
World Champion Jedrzej Turns His Life Around In The End
Boxer is a strange movie because it does not exactly have a happy ending, but it’s realistic. It highlights a person who has entered the depths of despair and is finding ways to repent and repair the damage caused.
Jedrzej violently wins his world championship, continuously punching his opponent even though he knocked him out. He rests the championship belt on his father’s grave, ending a chapter in his life – the void was created by what his father left behind.
Ironically, his dream of becoming a world champion boxer was merely an obligation, not a happy achievement.
Jedrzej returns to his old gym, which was run by Czeseik, and that’s when the movie goes full circle. Wladek visits him, the man who allowed him and Kasia to travel to the UK on the bus at the start of the movie.
Although Kasia was acting as a nurse to get on the bus to immigrate to the UK, she gave him advice on his sunken eyes, explaining that the condition could be linked to his liver. It turns out Kasia was right; he had cancer.
Wladek is grateful, and he gives Jedrzej recorded wire tapes that reveal that his father was being pressured to lose a fight against a Russian boxer at the Olympics. The Soviet Union threatened him.
Jedrzej’s father chose to protect his son and family, quit boxing soon after, and chose a harder life.
Jedrzej pressures Konstanty, the man who threatened his father, with the tapes and blackmails him. He asks for Czesiek’s gym and reopens it in his uncle’s memory.
By the end of the film, Jedrzej finds peace in his life after suffering poverty, wealth, success, and deeply wounded failure. Kasia, presumably his ex-wife now, visits the gym with their son, Tadzik. He teaches his son how to box but tells him he’ll never pressure him to fight.
It’s a bittersweet ending where you’d want better for Jedrzej. While his treatment of his wife Kasia is pivotal, you’d hope they can repair their relationship and possibly reconcile. They’ll unlikely end up back together, but at least the family can continue to evolve with their son.
I just found the movie ironic. Jedrzej’s winning the world championship meant very little. What mattered was his family.
Read More: Boxer Review
